After MIT published its findings, Uber’s Chief Economist
Jonathan Hall took to the company’s Medium blog to challenge the claims. He pointed to two other surveys conducted by Uber,
one in partnership with Princeton, and another with Stanford; both reported
significantly higher earnings for drivers (in the range of $19-$21 as gross
hourly income).

Describing MIT researchers as “incompetent” is a big swing (and also seems
to diverge from Khosrowshahi’s aspirations to a
kinder, gentler
approach to leading Uber). And Hall’s claims to have found a flaw in the
MIT study are, at least as presented, not entirely compelling.

In an Inc article
titled, “With a single insulting tweet, Uber’s CEO just destroyed months of
hard work,” Justin Bariso wrote that the tweet “threatens to destroy the
image [Khosrowshahi] worked so hard to establish” and penned this advice:

Sarcastically mocking a group of top researchers isn't the best way to get
your point across—even if you're right.

Twitter users also criticized Khosrowshahi’s wording:

This mocking approach in criticizing the MIT report is not professional and it reminds me of calling the media “fake news” by someone. I don’t think Uber wants to go down the same way. You better present a professional response based on facts and data.

Though the tweet stoked more criticism for Uber, it also moved researchers
to take another look at the study.

On Saturday, Reuters reported that MIT would revisit the study,
taking into account a survey discrepancy suggested by Uber’s chief
economist Jonathan Hall. MIT will release new results along with a public
statement on Monday.

Hall’s rebuttal to the study said the likely misinterpretation of a survey
question and the study’s“inconsistent logic” produced a wage result that
was below similar studies elsewhere. He said the study used a“flawed
methodology” compared with a survey that found drivers’ average hour
earnings were $15.68.

“The earnings figures suggested in the paper are less than half the hourly
earnings numbers reported in the very survey the paper derives its data
from,” wrote Hall.

The MIT study’s lead author, Stephen Zoepf, told Reuters in an email on
Saturday,“I can see how the question on revenue might have been interpreted
differently by respondents” and called Hall’s rebuttal thoughtful.

Though the tweet was composed and polite, Khosrowshahi was still criticized
for previously lashing out.

Right? I mean, it’s not like you have to be exceptional to get into MIT or anythin— wait, never mind. You do. You’ve got to be exceptional to have any hope of attending. Also, attacking a storied institution while Uber continues its run of bad press? NOT a good look.